The stock market bottom this week wasn’t as pessimism laden as the one in October, but it was certainly fun nonetheless! And just like I did in October, I gave readers a few days notice to prepare for the low. Frankly, this was easy.
While it was a slightly soft seasonal time, the market sold off a few percent more than it should have which is part of the reason the rebound has been so robust. December is a haven for strong trends and several collided this week with a focus on Wednesday, Fed day. It was Santa’s turn to propel the market and boy did he deliver with the S&P 500 just a whisker away from all time highs to close the week. Yes, you read that right, ALL TIME HIGHS.
It was only a few days ago when friends, colleagues and pundits were all telling me that the quant models were wrong; bull market was over and stocks were not going to rally like they usually do this time of year. I don’t know; the bears are the ones who look to be the wounded party.
In any case, it was a great three days for the bulls, but now comes the time where I really want to see the Dow, S&P 400, Russell 2000 and Nasdaq 100 step up and grab new highs. If we fast forward to January and these indices are still lagging, I will certainly become concerned.
It was also good to see the high yield (junk) bond sector turn on a dime and take off. This group is vital to the long-term success of the bull market.
On the sector front, the news is less robust with plenty of sectors still not leading like I would like to see. As with the major stock market indices, let’s give them into January to get themselves healthier. Earlier this month, I sold our position in the transportation sector when it stopped rallying as crude oil collapsed. That sector needs to repair itself. Today, I sold half of our long-term position in semiconductors as they went from strong leader to laggard.
Have a good weekend and be safe!
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